Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🏘️ Mortgage rates raise the roof
• 👖 2000s style is fetch again
• 🍿 First AI-generated theatrical release

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.70-minute read (985 words).

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"An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered."

–G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

US mortgage rates are climbing higher than your outdoorsy friend who insists the hike is “basically flat.”

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage hit 7.28% last week, according to Freddie Mac, its highest level in nearly three years. That’s up a full quarter-point from the previous week, marking the largest weekly increase in roughly four years.

Buyers are feeling the heat

Mortgage applications fell 4.2% last week, per the Mortgage Bankers Association, while applications to purchase homes dropped 2%. Refinancing activity fell 8% and was 56% lower than the same week last year.

Borrowers are also looking for ways to soften the blow. Adjustable-rate mortgages, which typically offer lower initial rates, accounted for 10.3% of mortgage applications last week.

The name's bond...Treasury bond

Mortgage rates tend to move alongside yields on 10-year US Treasury bonds, which climbed above 5.3% this week to their highest level in 24 years amid concerns that rising oil prices and stronger-than-expected economic growth will keep inflation high. The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge rose 3.4% annually in August, compared with its 2% target.

The ripple effects extend well beyond Zillow tabs. The 10-year Treasury is a major benchmark for borrowing costs across the economy, meaning higher yields can make financing more expensive for everything from homes and cars to businesses.

Zoom out: Mortgage rates have climbed by ~1.4 percentage points since the US-Israel war with Iran began in late February, adding another affordability hurdle for a housing market already struggling to attract buyers.

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Gen Z has come to embrace styles from the early 2000s in recent years, boosting US sales of low-rise jeans, Ugg boots, chunky sunglasses, and other Y2K staples.

Now, another relic of the era is making a comeback: wired headphones.

America goes back on the cord

Bose is the latest major brand to capitalize on the nostalgia trend, releasing its first pair of wired earbuds in 11 years. The new $99 buds, available October 15, feature a USB-C plug instead of an aux jack to work with modern phones.

Bose isn’t alone: Other brands synonymous with the turn of the century are finding new life among younger consumers.

• Levi’s is leaning into loose-fitting and baggy jeans inspired by styles from decades past, helping the denim giant capitalize on renewed demand for vintage looks.
• Coach, whose logo-covered purses and wristlets became Y2K status symbols, has found a new generation of fans among Gen Z and millennials, with a 25% surge in Q2 sales this year.

Zoom out: Major retailers are making an expensive bet that Gen Z’s fascination with early-2000s fashion and major brands that defined it—Ed Hardy, Victoria’s Secret PINK, UGG, to name a few more—is here to stay.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🏦 Federal Reserve officials expect to raise interest rates one more time in 2026 in a bid to lower inflation, per newly released meeting minutes, though they didn’t indicate when the rate hike might occur.
• 🚢🛢️ Oil supertanker was recently chartered to sail from the US Gulf Coast to China for $76 million, or 7x–10x higher than typical rates for the same route prior to the Iran war.
• 💻 Microsoft is now taking preorders for $2,599 Surface Laptop Ultra containing an Nvidia chip that can run large AI models without generating cloud bills.

SPORTS, MEDIA, & ENTERTAINMENT

• 📺 HBO Max and Paramount+ to merge into singular streaming service after a “short-term” phase as separate-but-bundled products, Skydance chair/CEO David Ellison announces.
• 🏌️ Jon Rahm announces plans to leave LIV Golf after the upstart golf league filed for bankruptcy last month; Rahm is reportedly owed $100+ million as LIV’s largest creditor.
• 🤖🍿 Popular YouTuber Gossip Goblin, real name Zack London, releases trailer for Gods Don’t Give Gifts, the first fully AI-made film to receive an MPA rating (R); the sci-fi film’s limited theatrical release is set for December 4.

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SCIENCE, SPACE, & EMERGING TECH

• 🏆 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to scientists Henri B. Kagan of France and Kenso Soai of Japan for solving a century-old mystery about molecules with mirror images; their discovery has been used to develop countless drugs and assist in understanding the molecular origins of life.
• 🦠 Pennsylvania measles outbreak reaches 1,066 confirmed cases, marking the largest US outbreak since 1991, with five reported deaths; America has recorded 3,800+ measles cases this year, and is close to losing its measles elimination status (if an outbreak lasts 12+ months).
• 🤖 Common Sense Media says OpenAI's new ChatGPT for Teens poses an "unacceptable risk," after finding what it describes as shortcomings in safeguards meant to protect younger users.

US, WORLD, & POLITICS

• 🏛️ Kimberly Guilfoyle, current US ambassador to Greece, asked Trump donor Eric Deters to pay her $100,000 American Express bill before her confirmation as ambassador, per new WSJ report; Guilfoyle’s lawyer claims the messages obtained by the WSJ aren’t authentic, while Deters says he didn’t make the requested $100,000 payment.
• 🌀 Tropical Storm Isaias forms in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, and is expected to strengthen into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season this morning.
• 🌍 Syria is discussing sending troops to Yemen to join Saudi Arabia in a counteroffensive against Iran-backed Houthi rebels, per multiple reports.

☝️ The European Space Agency and Pokémon Company International shared photos of their newest recruit in honor of World Space Week. Pikachu spent 67 days in space earlier this year aboard the International Space Station, completing ~1,040 orbits before safely returning to Earth with his owner, Pokémon Trainer astronaut Sophie Adenot.

🤔 Did you know? Roly-polies (Armadillidiidae) aren’t actually insects, but crustaceans. The tiny, ball-shaped critters are more closely related to shrimp and lobsters than to insects, even though they live on land.

📰 Worth a read: Is AI the end of math as we know it?

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• 16,648 reasons to live
• People who live to 100 have 3 drinks in common
• You don’t need as much willpower as you think, says expert

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Yesterday we covered how Anthropic has spent months privately consulting with dozens of the world’s top religious thinkers over how to teach its increasingly powerful AI systems to behave morally, amid a larger debate over whether AI may be conscious.

❓ Our question to you: In your opinion, will AI ever become a conscious being at any point in the future?

• Yes: 27%
• No: 39%
• It’s already a conscious being: 16%
• Unsure/other: 18%

Read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 539 votes and 50 longform responses.

Which northern-located country has the most lakes in the world?

(keep scrolling for the answer)

🧦 It's the 15th anniversary of Socktober, an annual sock drive for homeless communities founded by Brad Montague. What started in 2011 as a humble fundraiser at a Minnesota middle school has grown into a worldwide movement, with millions of pairs of socks donated each year for people in need. 

Canada, with roughly 879,800 lakes.

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